Heroin, which was confiscated by the Narcotics Control Bureau at Alway while it was being brought from Uttar Pradesh, was to be sent to Kuwait in two days via Kochi. Abdul Rahim, who hails from Thrissur, and in whose possession the 1.870 kilos of heroin were found, was remanded until 21 and sent to Kakkanad district jail.

The contraband is worth about Rs 4 crore in international markets, says on Manorama site. Rahim, who had been in Kuwait for about 10 years and who is now a lorry driver, confessed that this was the second time that he was acting as a courier for drugs. He said that he was not paid in full the first time and was expecting to recoup the money in a second attempt. In addition to travelling charges, he was paid Rs50,000.

In the first deal, he carried drugs from Uttar Pradesh to Kochi as per instructions received on his mobile phone. He has furnished the details but authorities have kept that under wraps for now. This time, Rahim was instructed to travel to Uttar Pradesh, but was instructed to go to New Delhi by air at the last moment. From New Delhi, he was asked to travel to Mathura by car.

A person believed to be a Pakistani delivered the drugs in two packets to him. When he crossed Walayar by train on his return trip, he was instructed to switch trains and go to Aluva. However, at Aluva, he was apprehended by anti-narcotics officials who were tipped off.

Phone calls and SMSs kept coming to his mobile, which the police are tracking. While he was to deliver the package to a person travelling to Kuwait, the details of the person were to be intimated to him later. Authorities believe that the heroin could have come from Afghanistan-Pakistan border via Kashmir to UP. Since heroin is in high demand in the Gulf, traffickers are focussing on Kerala from where a lot of people travel to the Gulf.